How Long Until You'll Let Me Love You?
by ajbraun
Summary: Amanda and Erin have lost their father and moved across the globe to live with their long lost mother's family. They enroll in Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry with their cousin, Lily, and attract the attention of the Gryffindor heart throbs.


Two identical young women and two males were sitting in a stone chamber. One of the men was old- with a long white beard and half-moon spectacles; he was sitting across from the three with a very somber expression on his face. The other male was positioned in between the two females; both of whom had their faces buried into his chest. He protectively wrapped his arms around their shoulders and looked into the face of the older man.

"When did it happen?" the young man asked. His voice was shaky and frequently punctuated by a sharp intake of breath- obviously done in attempt to hold back tears.

"Your father died roughly two days ago. My men found him after he made an attempt on the Minister's life," the old man put his finger tips together and sat back- observing the siblings together.

The girl on the left side was Amanda Mucliber, twin sister of the other girl, Erin Mucliber, and little sister to Ben Mucliber, the young man who was currently holding her. Dumbledore noticed how very similar the two girls were; both young ladies had very light sun blonde hair that fell to their lower backs, both were of slightly small stature- barely 165 centimeters (5'5''), and both extremely thin- possibly to the point of it being unhealthy. But Dumbledore had noticed a very distinct difference between the two- Amanda had huge sapphire blue eyes- like the kind normally belonging to a house elf, and Erin had emerald green eyes similar in size and shape.

Their brother, Ben, however was very different from the two; he was tall- most likely around 185 centimeters (6'1'') and very muscled. Atop his head was a curly mass of light brown hair that dangled in front of his eyes. Those eyes were a warp between his sisters; the area closest to his pupils was a brilliant blue, but the edges were circled in that bewitching green.

Dumbledore smiled noticing their eyes- they clearly linked to a current student of his, Lily Evans, whom in time he would reveal to them was the cousin they would be living with.

"He didn't harm anyone did he?" Erin whispered as she brushed the tears from her eyes, changing her position so she was now sitting upright.

It relaxed Dumbledore to be able to confirm that although Stephen Mucliber had been evil, his children obviously did not possess a single drop of it. "No Ms. Mucliber. He was unable to succeed in his mission, no one was harmed."

The blonde nodded her head in appreciation and brushed away her final tear. Her sister however was still sobbing violently into her brother's shirt, clinging onto it. Ben adjusted himself and wrapped both arms around his youngest sister by 5 minutes.

"What are we going to do sir? We have no family here in America- our father moved us here shortly after our mother left 15 years ago," Ben asked.

"I have already contact your Aunt Courtney back in London- her daughter, Lily, is around your ages and is also magical. She immediately agreed to take the three of you in and has even offered to move to a larger home to accommodate for you," Dumbledore snapped his fingers and produced a sealed envelope. "This is two things, your father's will, and the deed to your home. As you all know, you each had a trust that normally would turn over to you when you became of age, but with these new circumstances, it has all been released to you. I hope you do not mind, but I had them send your funds to Gringotts bank in Diagon Alley- that is where your father kept the family wealth."

Ben looked at Erin, then at Amanda. Neither of them knew what to say; neither knew what to do. "Thank you Professor. I will contact my aunt and discuss the details with her. It is not my intention to be rude, but I would really like to be alone with my sisters for a moment. You know, to discuss this," Ben answered safely. Dumbledore nodded and quietly exited the room.

"I think we should sell the house and go- I mean, you will be 18 in a few months and if we can't stand our Aunt then we can always move out," Erin speculated.

"Yes- but we will have to change schools. And if memory serves, I would have another year to go through at Hogwarts, they start school a year later than we do," Ben grumbled.

But this was too much for Amanda. She let go of her brother and looked back and forth between her siblings. "Our father is DEAD! As in we are never going to see him again! And all you can think about is how to move on?!" Amanda had always been the sensitive one- she knew her father was evil, but she still loved him. How could she not? The man gave her life- raised her. His last few years were corrupted and evil- but he had been so much to her before.

Erin, the stone wall, was about to retaliate back at her when Ben stepped in and took Amanda back in his arms. "I know, I know. I am sorry he is gone to. But Dad was evil- he was killed by the very man he worked for. I will mourn his death too, but right now I have to make sure you and Erin have a place to live and a school to graduate from."

"Ok," Amanda replied, consoling herself in her brother's arms. Ben looked at Erin and extended his arm to her, bringing her in to their hug. They stood silently together in their embrace until there was a gentle knock at the door.

He held them both and looked up at the man who reappeared at the door. "Yes- we will go back to England and enroll in your school. Thank you sir," Ben stated.

"Very well- your Aunt actually just sent word and said she would like to help with the packing. With your permission of course," Dumbledore smiled. Ben nodded in approval. "Good, she will be here around 9 tomorrow morning. School starts September 1st." With that, their new headmaster disappeared.

"You two go to bed. We have a lot to do in a very little amount of time," Ben kissed his sister's foreheads and watched them follow his direction and head up to their room.

Once both girls reached their vast room, each turned to her side and changed into sleeping clothes. "I am sorry- I am going to miss Dad too; but he deserved what happened. He killed people Amanda," Erin walked behind her sister and hugged her from behind.

"I know Erin, I know. But I am grieving for what he used to be and what he could have been," with that last comment, Amanda shrugged off her sisters arms and crawled into her bed.

The next morning Amanda awoke with tear stained cheeks but with a much less grieving heart than she had fallen asleep with. In her bed she sat up and looked at the single picture she kept at her bedside- it was her and her father at the zoo in front of the monkeys. Under her breath she asked the only question that really mattered to her anymore, "Why Dad?"

A new tear formed in her eyes but she brushed it off- determined to be stronger like her sister and brother. Amanda looked up and caddie-corner from her bed towards her sister. She noticed Erin had fallen asleep clutching a doll their father gave her for her 9th birthday. At least she knows she loved him.

But Amanda was torn from this vision when she heard a crash coming from outside her room. Erin startled awake at the sound, "What happened?" she asked with her voice heavy from sleep.

"I don't know- I think it came from the kitchen!" Amanda whispered back. Both girls rose from their beds and grabbed their wands and then each other's hands. Carefully and quietly they snuck out of their room and peered into their kitchen. In it they saw an older woman with auburn hair and a younger girl, about their age, with fiery red hair. It seemed as they were preparing breakfast- a job that house elves normally performed for the Mucliber family.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?" Erin bravely asked entering the kitchen, Amanda right behind her.

"Oh good morning lovelies, I hope you got some rest last night," the strange woman with the auburn hair called to them from the stove. The sisters looked from the older woman to the younger who was peeling potatoes. When the young girl looked up, the twins let out a small gasp at the striking resemblance of the girl's eyes to Erin's- and the faded photos of their mother's.

"Excuse me- but who are you and why are you in our home?" Amanda asked bluntly, her nerves getting the better of her. She and Erin both had their wands clutched in their hands at their sides, ready for anything.

"Oh- forgive me. I am Courtney Evans, I am your mother's older sister. This is Lily, my daughter," she pointed at the girl at her side. "I expect Professor Dumbledore told you to be expecting us?"

"Oh yes. Um. Nice to meet you…" Erin answered timidly and held her sister's hand as they walked closer to their 'Aunt'. "I am Erin- and this is Amanda. Ben is – I dunno where Ben is."

"He went to the bank- he is taking care of some legal matters with the house. My how similar you two look!," Mrs. Evans smiled and hugged Erin. The woman held her niece back a few feet and stared into the eyes that looked so much like her other female relatives. After another moment, she released Erin and moved onto Amanda.

The woman hugged her next niece and held her a distance away too. Her smile broadened as she looked into Amanda's eyes. "Ah- so it's just like when you two were little. The only way we could tell you two apart was your eyes. We honestly thought that your eyes would have dimmed by now Amanda. I am glad they didn't. It will help me tell the two of you apart!"

"Mrs. Evans-" Erin began.

"Please, call me Aunt Courtney," the woman interrupted.

"Aunt Courtney," Erin corrected, "I do not mean to be rude, but according to our father you have no magical capabilities- how did you get here so fast?"

"That would have been me. I somehow got the magic gene like you guys and am a 6th year at Hogwarts. I apparated us here this morning," Lily answered. It was evident the young lady was proud of her abilities.

The four women looked back and forth at each other for a while in awkward silence. Finally, Mrs. Evans broke it, "How about you two go get ready for the day and we will have breakfast ready for you guys by then? Ben will be back by then I am sure."

"Er- yes, thank you," the twins answered and walked back upstairs. Each casting awkward glances back at the women now in their kitchen.

"What do you think Erin?" Amanda asked her sibling from the privacy of their bedroom. She was gathering her clothes to wear today and once satisfied turned to her sister expecting an answer.

"It has been so long since we have had a woman other than our useless step moms. I don't know, Mandy. She seems nice, that much I know," Erin responded. She too now had her outfit in hand.

"I agree- I just hope we get along well with Lily too."

The other nodded back and walked into her private bathroom, Amanda did the same. While both girls actually preferred to share a bedroom- they refused to share bathrooms. It all correlates back to when the girls were 4 and tubbed together. Amanda accidentally pushed Erin down, causing Erin to fall on the spicket and get a moon shaped scar on her shoulder. Their step mom at the time, something Lestrange- immediately ordered that they have separate rooms so they would not damage each other more. Both girls vehemently protested to their father who compromised by making them have separate bathrooms. Since then, the arrangement always stuck and each girl came to appreciate the privacy of their own bathrooms.

Roughly 20 minutes later, both girls emerged from their prospective showers wearing the exact same outfit, not an uncommon occurrence. Both girls were wearing KISS rock band t-shirts with cut off jean shorts. They rolled their eyes and sniggered at the similarities but didn't really care too much. Each of them cast a drying spell on their hair and put on black flip flops.

"Do you think we will like England?" Erin asked her sister. She was a very American girl and wasn't sure she would like the uppity ness of English society.

"I think so- I mean, we never have trouble making friends here, why should there be any different?" the other responded.

"I think you meant to say that neither one of you ever have problems getting a multitude of boys to follow you and subject themselves to your whims," Ben added from the door way. His sisters rolled their eyes and stood up.

"Oh please- don't be so ridiculous Ben," Amanda quipped and hugged her brother.

"Yeah- we each have never had a 'boyfriend'," Erin added.

It was true that neither had never had a boyfriend, but it was also true that neither had any idea how many owls their older brother intercepted. How many love letters Ben through in the furnace was beyond his recollection.

But that was the good thing about these two girls- neither had any idea to the power they held over the opposite sex. True- looks are not everything- but at their age, most males preferred body to brains. And that is why it was so inexplicably unfair when in addition to physical beauty, each girl was brilliant scholastically- never less than an O grade for either of them. They were even advanced to 5th year status when they were only 14- next term they were to be made officially 6th years at 15.

"Well- all I have to say is that the first guy who hits on either of you at this new school will be made an example of," Ben announced in his overly protective brother manner. He punched the air in example.

"You will be nice! Besides- now you even have Lily to protect," Amanda added as she waved her wand and packed all of her bathroom belongings.

Erin looked from one sibling to the other, biting her upper lip. She wanted to be absolutely certain she phrased this next question right. "Do you- do you guys think what dad said about 'mudbloods' is true?" Both Ben and Amanda froze before looking at their sister.

"I know it isn't. I love Daddy- but he was wrong about that. Blood does not matter," Amanda answered, looking to Ben for assurance.

"She is right Erin- he was wrong. I am sure Lily is extremely sweet and from what Aunt Courtney tells me she is brilliant as well," he placed his hands on her shoulders and gave her a reassuring look.

"Your right- its just Dad made sure we never came in contact with anyone with impure blood- I wondered if he had a good reason," Erin sounded ashamed of her question now.

"Now that its all settled, lets go have breakfast with our new family. We start school in 4 days! We need to back and relocate to another country!" Ben laughed as he nudged both of his sisters out and to the dining room. Erin inwardly thanked for her brothers smooth transition away from her question.

"You guys have a beautiful home here- I would love a kitchen of this size!" Aunt Courtney cooed as the Muclibers took their seats at the table. Amanda and Erin sat on the side with Lily and Ben sat with his aunt. Before them on the table was an array of breakfast foods that smelled divine.

Ben thanked his aunt and began to eat copious amounts of food while his sisters took a single slice of bacon and a tiny portion of eggs. Lily noticed and kicked her mom under the table getting her attention and motioned at her cousins. Courtney noticed but signaled her daughter to stay silent about it- it wasn't the time to ask about their eating habits. Lily sighed and looked at Ben- maybe he could give her some sort of secret clue about why his sisters barely ate. But he didn't look up from his plate as he shoveled his food into his mouth.

Defeated, Lily prepared her plate and began to quietly eat. "Look guys, I really didn't want to rush you- but I really think we should get you out of here today. School starts on Tuesday and we still need to get you all of your Hogwarts supplies," Courtney stated as she rose to return her dishes to the sink.

"Well- I went to the bank and they told me that there is not way to process all the paperwork before school begins. Something about how they had to get in touch with our next of kin on our father's side to see if they want the house," Ben said with his mouth full.

"Not the Malfoys! I hate Lucius- he looks at us funny," Erin exclaimed, shocking everyone by her outburst. Ben shrugged and put another pile of food in his mouth.

"Can we turn it into a mental health facility?" Amanda asked quietly with down cast eyes.

"Why that?" Lily asked- it seemed an odd thing to do with a mansion.

"Still want to be a mental Healer? You used to tell your mummy that when you were barely 3," Courtney looked at her youngest niece quite impressed. She was still holding on to her childhood dreams.

"I think that would work- we could leave it in the family and not have to worry about it if we declared it a government institution," Ben leaned back in his chair and pondered it for a second. "Is it ok with you Erin?" He knew all of them would have to sign that it was an alright idea.

"It sounds alright with me," Erin smiled and looked at her sister. Of course she would think of that- she always talked about opening a place for the mentally handicapped that was better than just a white prison.

"I am very proud of all of you- that is very sweet. I am sure your mother would have been impressed as well," Courtney mentioned as she cleared the table. She didn't know how her nieces and nephew felt about their mother- or how much they knew. All three of them stopped making any noise at all and looked down- apparently it's not a good subject…

"Well- Lily, please go help them pack up their room. Ben, you should call the bank and clear the idea. I will call muggle storage and see if they can't house all of this furniture until you all are old enough to have your own places," Courtney ordered, collecting all of the dishes from the table.

Ben got up and did as instructed, grabbing his coat and exiting the house. The girls got up together and Lily followed as they led her up to their bedroom. When the girls pushed back their door, Lily gasped at its mixture of muggle and magical technology. On one side was a giant t.v. and some video games and the other was a wall full of magical photos and books.

"You guys have an interesting room- I didn't expect you to have many muggle amenities," Lily pointed out as she walked deeper into the room.

"Only daddy was the anti-muggle person. Us and Ben love Atari and muggle tv," Erin answered stiffly. She had a feeling her cousin thought she was some sort of blood maniac. Well, I did ask if Dad was right about blood earlier…

Amanda quickly took over the conversation with Lily. "Oh yes- and you can tell by our shirts we love muggle music too! Rock is our favorite!" Amanda's tone was much more friendly and casual than her sisters.

"Yeah- I like Kiss too! I noticed you shirts- did you guys see them in concert?"

The conversation continued as the three girls magically packed away all of their necessary belongings- clothes, music, make up, walkman. The twins noticed Lily's fascination with their books and allowed her to pack them. Finally Lily got to a book she was most definitely intrigued by-Macbeth.

"Do you guys like muggle literature too? I like Shakespeare…He was a wizard- did you now that?" Lily asked.

"Really?! No, we didn't," this sisters answered together. Lily laughed at this typical twin behavior.

"Do you guys do that often? Answer together and such?" Lily began to shrink the precious collection of books to a size she could fit in her pocket.

Amanda looked at Erin and shrugged, "I guess so. But no one ever brings it up- I think they are all used to it."

There was an awkward pause as the girls looked at each other. "Its really nice to able to talk to someone magical about muggle things. You know, other than our brother and each other," Lily smiled at Erin's words and hugged her.

"I think we will get along great," Lily said into Erin's ear as they pulled apart. An hour later the girls had the room completely packed and shrunk conveniently into their pockets. The girls looked around the now bare room and sighed, it was cold without all of the pictures and books.

"I am going to go get my mum," Lily suggested when she realized the sisters probably wanted a moment alone.

"Are you ready?" Erin asked her sister once Lily was definitely out of ear shot. She was fighting back some tears as she was about to leave the only home she had ever known.

"Yes- I think we are…" Amanda responded and took her sisters hand. They took one more look before they turned off the lights and closed the door.

The bank approved the Mucliber's plan and immediately appointed one of its executives to monitor the process. That night the family left their home and moved in with their Aunt. The three girls had to share a room with Lily's sister Petunia whom used every chance she got to make the girls feel unwelcome and unwanted. Thankfully however, the girls and Ben only had to endure her pestilence for two nights as Lily made plans for them to stay in Diagon alley the night before they were to leave to Hogwarts.

Finally, the day arrived for the Mucliber's to begin their year at Hogwarts, which according to Lily, was the most wonderful place on Earth. Eager to begin something relatively stable, the teens packed and were ready to leave the 'Leaky Cauldron' a few hours before it was necessary.

So, like what the girls did every time they had extra time, they shopped. Two hours later and 212 Galleons later, Ben had a new Nimbus 1800, and Lily and the girls had matching lockets with their initials engraved into them.

As they left Eden's Jewels, Lily remembered something she really ought to have remembered days ago. She pulled her cousins into a deserted alley and made sure there was no one to overhear. "Um…guys, I don't know if you know this, but your Dad's er…reputation, abides here. Mother doesn't know, but your father was called a Death Eater and is wanted by the Magical Ministry."

Lily searched her cousins' eyes, hoping that they would pick up on what she had to say without her actually saying it. She sighed gravely when they didn't. "You guys might want to go by your mother's last name, Evans- Mucliber is not a very good name here…"

"How not good is it?" Ben asked apprehensively. He knew that perhaps there would be some sort of conflict about their last name.

Lily made a grave noise in her throat before she decided that it would be better to just show them. Exiting the alleyway, she stopped an older woman and asked her a simple question. "Ma'am please pardon my interruption to your thoughts, but do you know if they caught that Mucliber fellow? I am muggleborn and haven't heard anything."

The older lady smiled and gripped Lily's hand. "They caught that evil bastard my dear- he isn't going to hurt anyone anymore," the lady smiled again and walked away.

Each Mucliber bowed their head in shame. "Ok, Evans it is…" they grumbled.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want you guys to have to realize that too late."

"It's okay. Thanks for telling us," Amanda whispered. She brushed a tear from her eyes as she walked to Lily. "I think its time we go to the train station- its 11 now…"

"Your right, the Cauldron already sent our stuff to the station. Off we go!" Lily's excitement at the prospect of beginning school was clear to the teens. Lily held out her wand and a moment later a giant bus appeared in the middle of the square. "Come on, this is the Knight Bus- it will take us to Kings Cross."

As the girls boarded the bus, there were several other kids that looked to be around their age. Lily greeted a few and pointedly ignored several others. Amanda and Erin kept their eyes down as they followed Lily and did not notice several prolonged stares from most of the boys aboard. However Ben did notice and gave each of the boys threatening glares- daring them to speak. None did.

Five minutes later, the newly expanded 'Evans' family exited the bus and joined the bustling crowd at the station. Lily grabbed the girls by the elbow and pulled them forward with Ben following close behind.

"We need to walk through that wall," Lily pointed to a giant red brick divider between platforms 9 and 10. Each new student gave her a skeptical look but marveled when Lily performed what she told them to do.

Erin went first behind Lily and Ben followed after. Erin was about to go through when a muggle boy approached her and began to flirt. As gently as possible, Erin told him she wasn't interested and once the coast was clear ran through the barrier- petrified of not being able to find her family.

BAM

Amanda bumped into something very solid and fell on her butt. "Stupid wall! It worked for everyone else!" she cursed with her eyes shut- not yet wanting to get the looks from the crowd of muggles nearby.

"It did- I am not a wall," she heard a male voice say. She looked up and saw a tall boy of slight muscular stature above her. He held his out to her and pulled her to her feet.

"Oh- sorry. I didn't pay attention," Amanda blushed from her embarrassment.

"Its quite alright. Are you knew here? My name is Remus, Remus Lupin. I am a prefect for Gryffindor," the new boy said. When he looked down at his offender, his breathing ceased- she looked some much like a fragile doll; hungrily his eyes took in her features. She cleared her throat to end his mesmerized stare and he quickly diverted his gaze. His cheeks were a gentle shade of pink too when he realized he was still holding the girls hand, which he promptly let go when he realized.

"Thank you. My name is Amanda Mu- Evans. Amanda Evans," she answered. It was going to take a while getting used to changing her surname.

"Ahh- an American. Wait? Did you say Evans? Are you related to Lily?" he asked. He had never heard of Lily talking about magical relatives before.

"Yes and yes, my sister and brother and I used to go to Erudite Magic Academy in the States. We have transferred to Hogwarts to be with Lily…" Amanda had to suppress a slight tug at her heart when she lied. She never did agree with it.

"There you are! We have been looking for you!" Lily yelled from Amanda's left. Remus turned to his partner and smiled. Lily quickly gave him a hug and exchanged pleasantries.

"Thank goodness this is the Marauder than found you! If it had been James or Sirius that found you there would be no end to the drama!" Lily dramatically proclaimed.

Before Amanda could ask what a Marauder was, Remus pointed to a spot in the crowd and spoke, "Lily- I think you have 12 seconds to get as far away as possible. I just saw a group of girls take off over there and that can only mean one thing…"

"Sirius and James," Lily moaned. Remus nodded and began to walk away from the girls in the direction he pointed.

"Oh- Amanda, I hope to see you around!" Remus called over his shoulder bashfully. Amanda waved at the sweet boy and turned to Lily who had now grabbed her and began moving through the crowd of people quite rapidly.

"Lily- Lily what's going on? Why are you trying to rip my arm out of socket?" Amanda asked as Lily climbed aboard the train nearly dragging her cousin.

"Marauders- stupid James has taken to proclaiming his undying love for me every chance he gets and I just want to have a peaceful ride to Hogwarts," Lily said through gritted teeth. It was obvious to Amanda that this was definitely a sore subject with her cousin. Finally Lily stopped in front of a compartment and opened the door. Inside was Erin and Ben obviously discussing something about quidditch.

Ben looked up when the door opened and rounded on his sister. "Where were you? You were right behind me!"

"Sorry- just some muggle guy started talking to me and I couldn't very well disappear through a wall on him!" Amanda snapped. "Besides- some nice guy helped me out and Lily found me soon after."

"Was he cute?" Erin asked excitedly. "I noticed they have much better looking guys here than back at home."

"Hey- I am a guy from back home!" Ben said crossly.

"Yeah- and your our brother. Not dateable," Erin replied obviously.

Five minutes later the train began to move and the bustling in the hallway decreased as people found seats. Ben was looking out of the compartment window and into the crowd of students when one caught his eye. "Loretta?!" he yelled, opening the door.

A dark skinned girl turned searching for the voice and gasped when she found it. "Ben? Ben is that you? I can't believe it- you're a wizard?" She came running to the door and enveloped Ben in a hug. Loretta was a friend of Ben's back from elementary school- he was crushed when she moved away in his sixth grade class. The girl broke from her hug and looked at the other girls.

"Amanda? Erin? No way! Your whole family was magical and you didn't tell me?" Loretta smiled and gave the other two girls hugs.

"Hey- you didn't tell me either!" Ben laughed and hugged his friend again.

"Come meet my friends, we are all 7th year Gryffindors," Loretta asked as she tugged her long lost friend out of the compartment. Erin and Amanda nodded their approval and Ben took off with his friend.

"Well now that he is gone, tell us about the hot guys!" Erin squealed. Lily rolled her eyes but smiled and was about to speak when someone else did it for her.

"Talking about us ladies?" two mysterious voices asked from outside of the compartment….


End file.
